E AST O REGONIAN
SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2019
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Bucks run over Cowboys
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
T
hey took a quarter to
come to life, but the
Bucks soon proved too
much for the Cowboys
to wrangle, turning Crook
County away 58-43 on Friday
night.
The victory marks the fi rst
ever for the Pendleton boys in
the Intermountain Conference.
While the Cowboys held
an early 5-4 lead in the game’s
opening minutes, Pendleton
hit big buckets in the second
and third quarters to assert
dominance.
“We didn’t warm up as hard
as we usually do,” said soph-
omore Dakota Sams. “That’s
something we have to get
better at. If we don’t, it’ll show
in those fi rst few minutes.”
After senior guard Tyler
Newsom scored 10 of his
team’s 14 points in the fi rst
quarter to initiate their lead,
Sams stole the ball to put the
Bucks ahead 16-10 to start
the second quarter. Pendleton
poured in 10 more straight
points for a 35-19 halftime
advantage.
“Our defense picked up, and
Crook County turned the ball
over to lead to some easy points
for us,” said Bucks coach Zach
Dong. “Good defense leads to
good offense.”
Sams, a 6-foot guard,
returned to knock down two
3-pointers in the third to give
Pendleton a 23-point lead with
5:00 left to go. He fi nished the
game with 12 points and four
rebounds.
“Dakota’s our spark,”
said Dong. “He played very
unselfi sh basketball. He scores,
but he gets everyone else
involved, too. That goes a long
way for our team.”
Despite a 31-point lead
going into the fourth, Crook
County fought back. Cowboy
senior guard Shane Kessi hit
four straight points to start the
quarter, and led his team with
14 total points.
After Sams, Newsom, and
junior guard Bryson Murray
put up a six-point run for the
See Bucks, Page B2
B1
BOYS HOOPS
Umatilla
Nyssa
62
55
Umatilla
boys rally
to defeat
Nyssa in
overtime
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
BOYS HOOPS
GIRLS HOOPS
Pendleton
Crook County
Pendleton
Crook County
58
43
76
30
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton’s Tyler Newsom
puts up a shot between Crook
County’s Kaleb Savage and
Thaiden Mullan (11) in the
Bucks’ 58-43 win against
the Cowboys on Friday in
Pendleton.
Andrew Earl had a quiet fi rst
half, and chipped in just fi ve
points in the second half, but
the Umatilla junior came to life
just in time Friday night.
Earl scored six of his 11
points in overtime to help the
host Vikings to a 62-55 victory
over the Nyssa Bulldogs in
Eastern Oregon League action.
“We had a good talk at half-
time,” Umatilla coach Scott
Bow said of Earl. “We told him
there are expectations, and he
responded like he should.”
Tied at 52-52 at the end of
regulation, Earl opened the
extra session by grabbing his
own rebound and putting the
ball in the hoop for a 54-52 lead.
No one scored again until
there was 1:40 remaining,
when Umatilla’s Trent Durfey
gathered an offensive rebound
and gave the Vikings (13-3, 2-1
EOL) a four-point lead.
Earl added a pair of free
throws, and Christian DeLoera
added one free throw to extend
the lead to 59-52.
Omar Jaquez, who fi nished
the night with 30 points for
Nyssa, drained a 3-pointer
from the top of the key to trim
the defi cit to 59-55.
De Loera added another free
throw, and Earl sealed the win
with a pair of shots from the
charity stripe with 35 seconds
left for the fi nal margin.
“Half of practice is free
throws,” Earl said. “I wasn’t
shooting very good this week.
See Umatilla, Page B2
Lillard leads Trail Blazers to 128-112 win over Pelicans
By ERIK GARCÍA
GUNDERSEN
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Damian
Lillard scored 22 points and eight
assists to lead the Portland Trail
Blazers to a 128-112 win over the
New Orleans Pelicans on Friday
night.
CJ McCollum and reserve
forward Jake Layman scored 20
points each for the Trail Blazers.
Layman got all his points in the
second quarter.
Anthony Davis fi nished with
27 points and seven rebounds for
New Orleans. Jrue Holiday had 20
points and Julius Randle pitched
in 19.
Other than the fi rst quarter, the
Trail Blazers dominated.
Portland opened things up
in the second thanks to their
reserves, most notably the scoring
from Layman.
NBA
Blazers
New Orleans
128
112
In the span of 2 1/2 minutes,
the Moda Center became a play-
ground like scene. Layman scored
11 points in six Portland posses-
sions as the crowd stood up and
the Blazers force-fed him the ball,
helping them push their lead as
high as 17.
The Blazers also had 23 second
chance points thanks to 18 offen-
sive rebounds.
The Blazers quickly got their
lead up to 21 in the third quarter,
with Lillard scoring 10 points in
the period.
New Orleans, which trailed
by 18 going into the fourth, got
a push from its reserves to pull
within eight with under eight
minutes remaining.
A 3-point play by CJ McCo-
llum pushed the lead back to 11,
which helped get the Blazers back
on track with 7:37 left.
Tip-ins
Pelicans: New Orleans has
struggled with injuries, but one
of the key contributors is getting
healthier. It’s only been nine days
since forward Nikola Mirotic
was cleared to return to action
after missing 12 straight games
in December and early January.
Head coach Alvin Gentry told
reporters prior to Friday’s game
that he’s not monitoring Mirotic’s
minutes anymore.
See Blazers, Page B2
AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard shoots between New Orleans
Pelicans forward Darius Miller, left, and guard Tim Frazier, right, during
the second half of an NBA basketball game in Portland on Friday.